Sirima Sataman is an interdisciplinary artist primarily working in traditional media, principally printmaking and sculpture. She studied sculpture, printmaking and fiber arts at the Claremont Colleges, the American University in Rome, Italy and Temple/Tyler University in Rome, Italy. She works and resides in San Francisco, California.

In a world that is physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, I believe that Spirit is the ground of all being, the foundation from which all form arises. I tap into my own understanding of that ground when doing my collage paintings, trying to express the essense of things as I experience them. The Jewel Tree sculptures were inspired by a workshop with my teacher Isa Gucciard, Ph.d. and through Robert Thurman’s book "The Jewel Tree of Tibet." Each Jewel tree is a meditation to a magnificent and magical tree that grows spontaneously from a crystal clear lake, high in the mountains. On this very personal tree sits every teacher, every benevolent, angelic and mythical figure, every hero, every ancestor, every aspect of God that has ever looked upon you, loved you, taught you and wished you well. They smile upon you and send rays of wisdom, compassion and strength through the jewels that each wise being holds in their heart, body and mind. They transmit their energy to your heart, body and mind as you gaze upon them. They are so glad that you have come and what they radiate to you, you in turn radiate to all who come in contact with you. I try to transmit this through every little tree I create.

My recent work is an exploration into the potential for an equal partnership with the medium. Rather than force the glass into a predetermined form I find it much more exciting to nudge the glass in a general direction, allowing it to deform and change, to a certain extent, on its own. This provides many opportunities for improvisation and has taken me to places with the glass that I may not have otherwise come to.

I spent over a decade years working as a Cell Biologist and am fascinated by complex systems, both evolved and designed. On one level my work explores the variety of relationships between form and function and challenges well-known connections between familiar objects by using them to create new forms and new functions. On another level my work examines the matrix of connections between intention and adaptation. Some of the permutations and chimeras I create may echo known biological or man made systems while others may create entirely novel systems that invite careful study. My art is influenced by my experiences both as a biologist and as a landscape designer and makes extensive use of plants and textures. Like a living cell, an organism, or a garden, each piece I create is an individual unit of function. The pieces often begin with a general concept or an interest in juxtaposing certain materials and they evolve through a combination of deliberate decisions and the unique adaptive properties of the materials.

Kyle is the current Artist-in-Residence at Cyprian's ARC, a non-profit neighborhood comunity resource focused on the arts, resilience and community. Also a gifted senior designer with DGA, she has worked on every building type from high end residential to laboratories, cleanrooms and hospitals. Kyle has been painting for 30 years and working in architecture for 20 years. She uses her painting studies to explore the potential of color and form in architecture. She is a past board member with AIASF and Leap Arts. She holds a BA from Clark University and Master of Architecture from the Boston Architectural College and is a Leadership San Francisco Alumna. Kyle lives in the NOPA neighborhood with her husband J and 2 children, Cobalt and Cypris.

Eve Skylar is a San-Francisco based Production Designer and Concept Artist for Animation, Film, and Game. She is currently working on two animated films; a feature for Marza Animation Planet (SEGA) for 2012 and a short film with an international team lead by Carlos Baena.

Using the impermanent medium of Jell-O , Liz Hickok creates glowing, jellied scale models of urban sites. Hickok changes the massive and seemingly unmovable city structures into something unexpected and ephemeral, commenting on the fragile nature of our cities. While the photographs evoke strange imaginary landscapes, the installations introduce a physical and sensory experience. The sculptures eventually decay, leaving the photographs and videos as the only record of their existence.

Form without Function
My sculptures, both in clay and in steel, are serial progressions working with the intersection of form and surface. Working in the tradition of the ceramic artists of the 1960's, these sculptures are deliberately non-functional. And, where the potter is concerned with what will fill the form, and how it functions, I am only interested in the interaction between shape and surface.The forms begin as shapes common to functional pottery. I enjoy the fact that I make things that simply represent the functional, trumping the classical image of pottery and expanding the viewer’s expectation of clay objects. I have finished these shapes with surfaces that invite the viewer to imagine a back story, a history. Look at the work, and enjoy the questions it evokes, enjoy the story it tells you.

Robin L. Humphreys is a glass and mixed-media sculptor based in the San Francisco Bay area. Humphreys addresses concepts of growth, decay, duality and emotion in her sculptural work, through the combined use of form, texture and material language. Her work is informed by natural forms and processes, optics, play and meditation. Robin L. Humphreys received a BFA in Glass from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2009. Past exhibitions include the Glass Art Society's 2009 International Student Exhibition, the MassArt Annual Senior Show (2009) and Chappell Gallery's 2009 Friends of Glass Exhibition. Humphreys currently works for Public Glass of San Francisco as the part-time Studio Operations Coordinator and a glass flame working instructor. Humphreys also works part-time as a studio administrator for sculptor Oben Abright. She has a passion for teaching and working with people.